Snare-drum attachment



-May 25 1926. 1,585,655

J. ELLIOTT SNARE DRUM ATTACHMENT Filed Nov. 25. 1922 Patented May 25, 1926.

units-e STATES aiuvrns I 1,585,655 PATENT @FFECE.

M. ELLIOTT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNCR TO LUIDWIG & LUIDWIG, OF

CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, A QORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SNARE-DRUM. ATTACHMENT.

Application filed November 25, 1922. Serial No. 603,164.

This invention relates to attachments for drums, moreparticularly to those for snare drums, for the purpose of mufliing the drum, by lowering the snares away from the lower head of the drum, whensuch is necessary or desirable, in order to obtain the desired effect.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and simple attachment for this purpose, having means disposed conveniently in position for operation by one of the drum sticks, as will hereinafter more fully appear, so that the muflling ef fect can be easily produced by a slight motion of the drum stick to one side, to actuate said means and as easily discontinued, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

To these and other useful ends the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1. 1s a top view of a snare drum showing the same equipped with an auxiliary mufiling device embodying the principles of the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevation of said device.

Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 in Figure 2, or an enlarged section on line 3-3 in Figure 1.

Figure 4: is a view similar to Figure 2, showing a difierent form of the invention, and showing the lower portion of the drum broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 5 is a detail vertical section on line 55 in Figure 1.

As thus illustrated, the drum has the upper and lower rims 1 and 2, and the snares 3 the upturned ends of which are'hitched to a vertically movable slide at the side of the drum. The slide 1 slides up and down in the guide-piece 5, an adjusting screw 6 being provided for this purpose. Said screw is supported by the out-turned upper end portion 7 of said guide-piece 5, and is threaded in a nut 8 carried on the slide 1, whereby the latter moves up and down when the screw is rotated. A bracket 9 is fastened to the easing of the drum by screws 10,. and is provided with a vertical slot 11 in which the rigid pin 12 of the guide-piece 5 is movable up and down. cam 13 is pivoted inside the bracket 9 as shown, and is provided with a curved cam slot 14 for engaging said pin 12, whereby oscillatory movement of this cam will cause the guide-piece 5 to move up and down. Said cam 13 has an arm 15, and the device thus far described is similar to certain adjusting devices previously known and used.

However, in order that the muffling attachment may be operated without grasping the arm 15 as a handle, which would necessitate dropping the hand to one side .of the drum, a pivoted lever 16 is mounted on the bracket 17, by means of a pivot screw 18, said lever is preferably of a bifurcated form providingtwo handles 19 and 20 for the operation thereof, either handle being adapted to project a little above the upper rim of the drum, A link 21 connects the lever 16 with the arm 15, whereby oscillation of said lever about its pivot 18 will operate the cam 13 and cause the slide 4; to move up or down, thus con trolling the snares 3 in the desired manner. To do this, it will be seen that it is only necessary to move the hand a little to one side, enough to cause the drum stick to strike one of the handles 19 or 20, as the case may be, so that the adjustment is made easily and practically without interrupting the action of the drum sticks on the upper drum head. It will be understood that the cam groove 14: is so formed that the snares are tightened when the arm 15 is pulled upward, and so that the cam mechanism thus provided will retain itself in this position, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. However, when the handle 20 is pushed to the right, the arm 15 will be forced downward,

' thus allowing the pin 12 to slide downward in the slot 11, and permitting the slide a to move downward and thus relax the snares below the bottom head of the drum.

v In Figures 4 and 5 the construction is similar to that previously described, but in this case a single hand lever 22 is pivoted at 23 and formed at its lower end with shoulders 2 1 and 25 to engage the stop 26 mounted on a stationary portion of the structure. In both constructions a spring 27 connects the pin 28 on said stationary portion with a pin 29 on said lever. In this way said spring will be swung past the center in either direction, and will hold the lever in either of itstwo positions, and will assist in raising or pulling the snares up against the bottom head of the drum. The lever 22 has an arm 30, it will be seen, which is connected by the link 81 with the arm 15 previously described. Thus when the lever is in the position shown in full lines in Figure 4 the snares are ti ght, but when this lever is in the position shown in dotted lines the snares are relaxed, thus producing a mutlled effect for the drum.

From the foregoing it will be seen that means are provided within easy reach of the drum sticl for controlling the snares ot the drain. Such being the case it is not necessary to drop the hand at the side of the drum and is practically not necessary to interrupt the use of the drum sticks while playing the druii. as a slight lateral movement of the drum stick over the drum will put the snares on or on, as may be desired,

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a snare drum mechanism, in which stationary base on a side oi the drum earries an associated operating cam and a slide aft: ehe'l an end of the drum snare, the combination of a lever pivoted to said base !i a point remote from the pivot of said cam 1 having a tree portion extending above base and above a. rim of the drum and an operative connection between said lever and the cam aforesaid,

B. In a snare drum mechanism, in which a stationary base on a side of the drum cara ssociated operating cam and a slide to an end of the drum snare, the combination of a lever ot' the bifurcated type pivoted to said 1 :e at a point remote trom the pivot. of said cam and having its tree portion extending above said base and above a rim of the drum, and an operative connection between said lever andthe cam atoresaid.

3. In a snare drum mechanism, in which a stationary base on a side of the drum carries an associated operating cam and a slide attached to an end of the drum snare, the combination of a lever pivoted to said base at a point remote from the pivot of said cam and'having a tree port-ion extending above said base and above a rim of the drum, an operative connection between said lever and the cam aforesaid, and a spring attached at one end to said base at a point below the pivot of the lever and to said. lever at a point above its pivot, so that with a movement of the lever the point of attachment of the spring to the lever will be shitted across the pivot ot' the lever to change the direction of the pull of the spring; on the parts.

4. In a snare drum mechanism, in which a stationary base on a side of the drum carries an associated operating; cam and :2 slide attached to an end of the drum snare,

the combination of a lever of the bifurcated type pivotedto saidbase at a point remote from the pivot of said cam and having its tree portion extending above said base and above a rim of the drum, an operative connection between said lever and the cam a i'oresaid and spring attached at one end to said have at a point below the pivot of the lever and to said lever at a point above its pivot. so that with a movement of the lever the poi of attachment of the spring to the lever n be shifted across the pivot point of the lever to change the direction of the pull of the springon the parts.

JAMES M. ELLEOTT 

